Rockets 122, Thunder 119

February 20, 2013|Reuters

Rockets 122, Thunder 119: James Harden went 7-for-8 from 3-point range en route to a career-high 46 points and Jeremy Lin scored nine of his 29 in the final 3:05 as Houston used a big fourth quarter to overcome visiting Oklahoma City.

Harden went 14 of 19 from the field and added eight rebounds and six assists in his best game against his former team. The Rockets had a busy day in advance of Thursdayâs trade deadline and were playing without key rotation pieces Patrick Patterson and Toney Douglas, who have reportedly been traded.

Thabo Sefolosha scored a career-high 28 points, Russell Westbrook added 28, 10 rebounds and eight assists and Kevin Durant recorded his second career triple-double with 16 points, 12 boards and 11 assists for the Thunder, who have dropped three straight.

Oklahoma City held a 107-93 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Kevin Martin and Sefolosha but went the next 6:47 without a field goal as Houston took control. Hardenâs 3-pointer with 2:20 left knotted it at 111 and he blocked Westbrook at the other end before Lin drained a 3-pointer to give the Rockets their first lead since the second quarter.

Harden added a basket and Lin buried another 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to make it a 119-113 gap. Westbrook finally ended the field-goal drought with a 3-pointer but Harden and Lin combined to make three free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Harden went a combined 9-for-33 and Houston lost the first two meeting with the Thunder by a total of 52 points. â¦ The Rockets hit eight 3-pointers in the first quarter to jump out to a 36-29 lead. They connected on 15-of-33 from beyond the arc in the contest. â¦ Houston has reportedly traded Patterson, Douglas and Cole Aldrich to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for No. 5 overall pick Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. Aldrich was one of the pieces that came over from Oklahoma City in the Harden trade before the season. Forward Marcus Morris went from Houston to the Phoenix Suns in the deal.